GLUTEN FREE CARROT FRIDGE CAKE

This amazing raw carrot cake is one of our favourite non-bake fridge cakes. It is very simple to make, contains delicious, heathy ingredients and makes a perfect alternative to a baked cake.

What’s so great about it:

Carrots are a good source of vitamin A, from beta-carotene that supports a healthy immune system and our vision, biotin, vitamin K (phylloquinone), potassium and vitamin B6.

Walnuts are an excellent source of omega 3 EFA’s (essential fatty acids) which are essential for good health. Health benefits of omega 3 are helping to lower cholesterol levels, reduce high blood pressure, can improve arthritis symptoms, mental health as the brain is 60% fat and needs omega 3 to function properly. They are also high in the amino acid tryptophan which helps to make serotonin, the ‘feel good’ hormone responsible for feelings of wellbeing!

Dates give a natural sweetness and are high in the minerals, potassium, chromium, magnesium and iron. Eliminate the dates to make this suitable for low carb and ketogenic diet recipes.

2 cups (220g) walnuts (crushed)

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup pecans (crushed)

1/2 cup almonds (crushed)

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1 tbs ground golden flaxseed

6 carrots (finely grated)

2 tbs chia seeds

1 cup shredded coconut

1/4 cup almond flour

1/2 cup (12 large) fresh dates pitted (blended)

1/2 cups chopped apricots (sulphur free (brown))

1 orange (blended)

1 cup coconut oil (organic cold presssed)

1 tbs ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1 bean vanilla seeds (or 1 tsp unsweetened vanilla bean paste)

1/2 cup sour cherries

Creamy Cashew Frosting

1 cup cashews

3 tbs orange juice or coconut water (freshly squeezed )

zest of 1 orange

1 bean vanilla seeds (or 1 tsp unsweetened vanilla paste)

Mix dry ingredients and zest of 1 orange until combined. You may use a food processor for ease but this can also be done by thoroughly mixing in a large bowl.

Warm the coconut oil over a pan of hot water until softened.

Add into the dry mix the dates, apricots, orange, sour cherries and coconut oil and then process again until mixed through.

Add grated raw carrot and vanilla then process again until combined. The mix should now form a chunky sticky mixture.

Spoon mixture into a preprepared 15 cm – 20 cm cake or loaf tin line with clingfilm or baking paper. Press firmly down making sure that the mix is even.

Store in the fridge for at least 2 hours to allow the carrot cake to rest.

To Serve:Turn the cake out onto a flat surface, remove the paper or clingfilm and top with frosting, see Creamy Cashew Frosting recipe below. Once the frosting has set cut into squares or slices and enjoy!

Creamy Cashew Frosting

For a yummy raw cashew nut creamy frosting soak cashew nuts in water for 3 hours, or until softened. Then drain.

Combine softened nuts with orange juice or coconut water and vanilla.

Blend in a high speed blender, such as a Vitamix, until smooth and creamy.

Alternative Toppings:

Roasted walnutsRoast 1/2 cup of walnuts on low heat for 10 minutes, scatter on the top of the cake and drizzled with raw honey.

]]>No-bake Fudgy Chocolate Fridge Cake (Gluten-free)https://leafie.com/ketogenic-diet/no-bake-fudgy-chocolate-fridge-cake-gluten-free
Wed, 10 May 2017 21:58:23 +0000http://leafie.com/?p=1143A no-bake fudgy chocolate fridge cake (gluten-free) with raspberries and almonds that sets in the fridge and only takes minutes to make. A fuss-free, no-bake chocolate dessert. Its easy to make and can easily be adapted to suit different diets; paleo, gluten-free, ketogenic,…

]]>A no-bake fudgy chocolate fridge cake (gluten-free) with raspberries and almonds that sets in the fridge and only takes minutes to make.

A fuss-free, no-bake chocolate dessert. Its easy to make and can easily be adapted to suit different diets; paleo, gluten-free, ketogenic, Modified Atkins.

Its fabulously easy to make; melt, stir and pour, a short stint in the fridge and its ready to go! takes care of the rest and as the name implies there is absolutely no baking involved. It’s a one-bowl kind of dessert that’s made for busy days and last minute chocolate cravings.

I’ve taken some liberties and updated the traditional recipe to make one that’s entirely raw and filled with good-for-you ingredients; coconut oil, coconut butter, cacao powder, cacao nibs, raspberries and macadamias. Dark and decadent, a small slice goes a long way.

Most of us have heard by now that dark chocolate is really rather good for us since it’s a source of much needed magnesium, anti-oxidants and other beneficial compounds (not to mention a powerful mood improver) so you hardly need an excuse to make this.

It’s delicious eaten chilled straight from the fridge or, if you have more patience than I do, even better five or ten minutes later as its fudgy consistency turns positively silky.

]]>8 Tips to Avoid Food Battles With Your Kidshttps://leafie.com/eczema/8-tips-to-avoid-food-battles-with-your-kids
Fri, 21 Apr 2017 16:39:16 +0000http://leafie.com/?p=16208 Tips to Avoid Food Battles With Your Kids How to avoid real food battles at home. Parents looking to increase the healthy nutritious foods in their family’s diets can often come up against a battle of wills, as children…

8 Tips to Avoid Food Battles With Your Kids

How to avoid real food battles at home. Parents looking to increase the healthy nutritious foods in their family’s diets can often come up against a battle of wills, as children or even partners, resist changing from their familiar foods to healthier whole foods.

I have heard so many reasons from mums whose kids or husbands initially can’t change their eating habits; missing comfort foods, can’t live without treats, lack of time, worrying that colleagues or classmates will judge new healthier lunches or simply fear of change.

There are approaches to getting around these barriers to help to bring your reluctant family alongside, instead of battling you at each step.

Here are my top tips to avoid real food battles and to develop a LOVE of real foods:

1. Educate Why do you want to make changes? Think about what information, learning and experiences have developed your interest and positive attitude to trying more real foods and explain that, drip by drip, to your family.

Real food is food that is grown and harvested as naturally and sustainably as possible. Real food is nourishing, wholesome, awesome, delicious and supports your community but does your family know this?! They may be resistant as they don’t understand these concepts and feel that the decision is being taken for them. Explaining what real food is, where it comes from, the differences between regular store bought foods and the upgrade foods that you are planning, how organic foods are free from the harmful chemicals of regular fruit and veggies. Start by telling them about the foods that they enjoy and the differences in how they could be produced and sourced.

Find your local farms that prioritise animal welfare, by raising free range cruelty free stock. These are better for the animals, our environment and the foods taste better.

Try to cook with or around your children and let them see you using real ingredients. Give them the opportunity to feel, touch, and experience foods and to try different types of cooking. These are essential hands-on life skills that will allow them to develop their own interest and knowledge so that they can look after themselves as adults. Increasing their knowledge and experiences could just help to win them over quicker and to start to enjoy different meals and snacks.

2. Local farms, markets and producers

There is no bigger teacher than hands on experience, so let the real foods do the work persuading your family.

Taking your family along to shop locally at the markets and smallholdings, butchers and grocers, delis and farmers markets, they can meet the producers, meet the delivery person and put the shopping away. They will get to see the beautiful vibrant interesting foods, build up a knowledge of ingredients, meet the people involved, can chat to the passionate people involved in producing great real foods.

Take them to the local farms, not just the tourist farm parks, but the real local farms to buy direct. By learning where where food comes from, how it is grown, seeing the animals, even helping out with some farm activities they will be on their own rich journey of discovery that will start to be reflected in their food knowledge and choices.

3. Trade up

If your family are not open to the idea of the full pantry overhaul on day one then start with the small battles and take things one step at a time. Instead of removing everything unhealthy try introducing new healthy ingredients into each dish and as side dish options, so you’re creating options and normalising healthy choices.

Start by making favourite family dishes with upgraded ingredients; replace regular meat with grass-fed organic free range beef, make your own Mayo, dips, gravy and sauces. Trade up from factory barn eggs to organic free range eggs or keep your own hens! Small changes that can make a big impact on your family’s health and they will hopefully be seen as positive changes by the rest of the family.

You could go very slowly if preferred, trading one conventional product for a whole food version each week, so that your family detoxes of the unhealthy preservatives, cheap unstable fats, refined salt, sugar and additives in processed food. The aim is to encourage them to notice the positive differences in taste, texture, variety in the real foods.

4. Choice

I don’t dictate to my family as I believe in personal choice and besides telling someone what to eat just doesn’t work longterm. We want our children to build up their knowledge, interest and love of real foods so that they can make their own empowered decisions. They will sometimes choose unhealthy options, but the majority of the time my family chooses healthy real foods because they enjoy the taste, because they are normal to them and so they are their natural default option.

When transitioning to a whole food diet it can be very helpful to give your children new choices to replace their old favourites. Offer Fluffy Almond Cookies or favourite smoothie to replace an old processed snack, instead of sweets from parties I offer the option to swap with something else, such as dark chocolate drops.

Let your children pick out fruits and veggies at the market and have a say about which veggies they’d like with their meals.

5. Try it

Start with a trial period or challenge, such as the Leafie Eczema Diet Challenge, so that your family know that the changes wont be forever and may be more excited by doing something different for a set time.

Forever is a scary word. If you begin your real food journey as a trial of a few weeks then it is a lot easier to convince reluctant family members to commit to trying new things, knowing that if they don’t like it, they can go back to their old habit, or not!!.

Some families have adopted a ‘two bite’ challenge, where everyone in the family agrees to take two bites of a new meal or ingredient before they decide that they don’t like it.

6. Grow and raise your own

Encourage your children to cultivate their own salads and vegetables. Beans are easy to grow in a tub, salad leaves window boxes, tomato plants in their bedroom, there are so many options even a sprinkle of cress seeds could be enough to get them started. Provide them with the tools and space and allow them to manage their own plot. Kids love to try something that they have grown or picked themselves.

I highly recommend keeping hens if you have the space to. They are great little personalities to have around, gentle with children and are relatively low maintenance, as long as they have decent food, shelter and water they will repay you with delicious, nutritious eggs for your new recipes.

7. Don’t buy junk

I do restrict foods, mainly by buying very little convenience foods. We do eat treats, but they are generally homemade or well sourced alternatives to processed sugar laden confectionary.

If you are the main shopper in your home you can choose to walk by the crisp isle, or swap the sweets with healthier treat foods instead, such as fruit bars, which can be very high in natural sugars but still better than sweets.

Your family may then choose to continue to buy certain snacks and treats for themselves, but as you are not supplying these as a normal food shopping item, so you’re making a distinction between healthy shopping choices and unhealthy.

8. Support network

When so many people around you may not eat healthily and might discourage your progress at work, school, family gatherings or outings it is very important to have a supportive community that are also trying to improve diet and eat well. Join a local food ordering group, farm park, allotment and / or online food communities. You will have support sourcing foods, share recipes and tips and discuss topics, which importantly will help you to continue to learn and develop your knowledge.

]]>9 Eczema essentialshttps://leafie.com/eczema/9-eczema-essentials
Wed, 05 Oct 2016 21:39:21 +0000http://leafie.com/?p=15779 Eczema essentials Eczema cases have mushroomed in recent years. The majority of new cases of eczema are in children under 5 years old. In fact 1 in 5 children now suffer from eczema in the UK. Atopic eczema is an inflammatory…

Eczema cases have mushroomed in recent years. The majority of new cases of eczema are in children under 5 years old. In fact 1 in 5 children now suffer from eczema in the UK.

Atopic eczema is an inflammatory skin condition, characterised by dry, itchy skin. Scratching the skin leads to skin red, sore, inflamed skin that becomes increasingly itchy, the more it is scratched the more risk of bleeding and skin infections but the itch-scratch-cycle is difficult to stop.

The impact of regular eczema flare ups can be severe causing major disruption to family life. Lack of sleep, anxiety and distress are felt acutely by the child and their families, parents report taking time off work due to sleepless nights and children won’t wear short sleeves in the summer or swim with friends due to their discomfort.

Family life can be altered drastically with daily cleaning drills, skincare and wrap routines, GP and Dermatology hospital appointments. Parents invest enormous time and money into specialised clothing, bedding, cleaning equipment, gadgets, holistic therapies, natural remedies and skin treatments, in anything that can help to relieve and soothe and avoid triggers.

Steroid creams did work for us but the eczema was more severe each time it returned. Skin creams and anti-itch solutions can help, I began to make my own deep healing skin treatment, Leafie Tallow Body Balm, but this is only a part of the long term solution.

To find a longterm solution to my son’s Eczema I looked to tackle the route cause from within his body. Working with 2 nutritional experts we planned a diet tailored for him, focused on relieving intestinal system inflammation, rebuilding his gut microbe eco system to allow the body to heal and to produce healthy natural responses.

This process and the healing that resulted has fundamentally changed the way I view health and diet.

Pre and post dietary changes

Here are my own top tips for long term eczema healing for your child:

1. The Brilliant Outdoors

Children lead busy lives, live in modern clean houses, travel by car, are schooled indoors and so their day to day contact with natural organisms has massively diminished. There are a number of studies that point to the importance of children getting outdoors to balance essential friendly gut flora.

The best way to increase your child’s outdoor time is to make it a core part of tyour every day routine and to lead by example. Walking or cycling to school is ideal, via natural areas or bridle paths where possible. Other ideas are to visit a farm, start an allotment plot or garden veggie bed, take up a regular outdoor activity, anything that works to get your child outdoors each day, getting dirty is one of the healthiest things your child can do!

Our Under 7s sports club’s tuck shop – No thanks!

2. NO to junk

Eczema is a inflammatory condition, so removing inflammatory foods and drinks reduces the stress that the body is under.

Fizzy drinks and squash, all processed foods, foods that contain preservatives flavourings, colourings and particularly E numbers should be removed from a child’s diet to make way for more wholesome beneficial eating. Treats can be upgraded to healthy whole foods, which may sound a little dull, but we have enjoyed the learning experience of making healthy food attractive, tasty and fun for kids.

Try: Frying a banana in coconut oil, sprinkling with milled pumpkin and flax seed and serving with natural yoghurt or homemade custard.

3. Probiotics

There are a number of factors profoundly changing the makeup of microbes in children’s intricate gut eco system, microbes that are essential for preventing illness and maintaining health. Antibiotics, assisted births and a decline in exclusive breastfeeding are significant factors in denying children’s intestinal system the diversity of microflora needed to fend off illnesses and produce normal reactions to daily irritants.

Certain foods and supplements can be introduced to improve our children’s microflora. Many foods that we eat are alive, teaming with tiny quivering, living organisms. Yogurt is a great example of a food containing ‘good bacteria’ or probiotics., living microrganisms that can provide health benefits when taken regularly.

With so many probiotic products on the market it is difficult to know which way to go. Diversity is they key in terms of get bacteria, so you can try a number of different probiotics. I make my own yoghurt daily with live cultures proven to survive through the digestive track.

Tip: be careful when choosing new probiotics marketed to children, as they can contain sugars and flavourings and may not be proven to improve gut health. Look for live yoghurt cultures that contain Acidophilus and Bifidum Bacterium.

4. Sneaky Smoothies

Green smoothies, the enduring health fad fix, has huge potential for children. With the help of a blender and good ingredients it is fairly simple to make a wide variety of delicious concoction.

Smoothies for your tot can include combinations from fruity to chocolatey to everything in between. Adding in probiotic goodness through yoghurts or probiotic powders, along with spinach, kale, avocadoes and any other goodies that you may need to sneak in.

right along with that hidden spinach. You can add the water kefir from above, milk-based kefir, whey, yogurt or probiotic powders. You can sometimes even sneak in stronger tasting probiotics like fermented cabbage or cod liver oil if you have a super strong tasting smoothie. Use caution and add these ingredients very slowly. Most picky eaters have strong palates.My favorite combination for sneaking in even the strongest tasting probiotic options is banana, peanut butter and cocoa. Three strong flavors that mix wonderfully to create a dessert-like smoothie and hide a multitude of flavors!

5. Drink more water

It sounds obvious but most children are not drinking enough water. Water is essential to health and well being, starting good hydration habits early will stay with children for life. Drinks should be sipped slowly away from meal times. For variety try natural water infusions such as lime or cinnamon, diluted organic vegetables juices and cooled herbal teas. Eliminate drinking fizzy pops and squash, whether with sugar or sugar free.

Tips: There are many tricks and tools for increasing hydration, including homemade ice lollies, adding fun ice cubes to drinks, water in smoothies, eating homemade soups regularly. Giving your child their own water bottle with their name on its and encourage them to take it with them and sip from it regularly, straws and fun cups also work well.

6. Go organic

Organic foods are more nutritious than non organic foods and up to 60% higher in key antioxidants.

Yes, organic food is more expensive and despite me now no longer venturing down many supermarket isles as we no longer eat those foods, my food bill is still bigger than I would like.

You can curb the cost of buying organic by growing your own foods, think perennials such as herbs, fruit bushes, asparagus plants, artichokes, the green gifts that keep giving every year and are low to maintain. Join food groups, buy direct from farms and farmers markets, try a veggie box order and reduce the number of times that you visit a supermarket.

7. The power of the broth

Cooking homeade chicken soup

Not so sexy perhaps but the good old fashioned hearty broth does have special properties. Rich in easy to absorb minerals and amino acids, a good bone broth can helps to build strong immunity and is ideal as a source of nourishment.

Tip: Our son is over broth and I can understand it as our house has been hubbling and bubbling with vats of the stuff for ages. I now take his portion, blend it up with extra steamed low carb veggies (think cauliflower) so that he has a blended soup and not a broth or stew. I sometimes add extras to his for further enticement, he loves melted cheddar cheese, slithers of carrot or frozen peas added.

8. Go big on GOOD Fats

Tallow – the original GOOD fat

Children in particular need plenty of healthy natural fats in their diet to maintain health, immunity and support growth and development. In our low fat, high carb, high sugar society children are generally receiving their energy through the wrong foods and are not getting enough healthy fats in their diets.

Cook with excellent quality oils stable at high temperatures, such as coconut oil and pure animal based healthy fats Tallow, Lard and Deer Tallow.

Use nut and seed oils (avocado, extra virgin) in their raw form for making dips and dressings such as Mayonnaise.

8. Commitment

Enjoy the road to learning what works and helps your child to heal. I found that although there are challenges from no longer eating the same foods as some of our friends we also made many great new connections, with new families, food groups, nutritionists, farmers and local producers and online communities. Changing your diet to a wholefood diet is exciting and fascinating, our family feels more a part of our local community, understand and are an active part of improving our food culture.

It does take commitment, so I suggest an initial 1 month commitment to making diet changes. Contact me for details of my

Ketogenic pancake recipes

When we want a change from fried, scrambles or poached eggs pancakes are my next default. Pancakes are a great Keto food, there are so many options for the batter, fillings and toppings that will meet most tastes and your Keto ratio and allowances. I have a number of different pancake variations, including my Coconut Flour Pancakes, almond flour, macadamia nuts and hazelnut combos, all firm favourites in my house.

The great thing about pancakes is that they can be adjusted to make specific fat: protein / carb ratio by adding topping such as blueberries and additional fats, such as coconut oil or butter. The taste can be livened up with nutmeg, cinnamon, orange zest or other spices, topped with fruit slithers, chopped nuts, homemade nut butters, organic dairy or cream.

Easy almond blueberry and lemon breakfast pancakes

These almond flour pancakes are super easy to make in a few minutes. Only three main ingredients, Almond Meal (I use almond meal instead of smooth milled light almond flour for a more wholesome taste and more dietary fibre), Double Cream and Eggs.

Serves: 4

Lemon and Blueberry coconut and almond pancakes

Ingredients

1.5 cups Almond meal (mill your own activated almonds if possible)

3 eggs – organic and free range for real health benefits

1 cup of coconut or dairy cream

2-3 tablespoons of Coconut Oil for frying

1/2 cup of blueberries

1 lemon halved and de-pipped

Optional: cinnamon, nutmeg, zest of lemon

Instructions

Mix the almond meal, eggs, cream and spice ingredients together in a medium sized bowl using a hand blender or hand whip until batter is a pourable but thick consistency.

Ladle one large spoon of batter mix onto a preheated large frying pan, oiled with coconut oil. Scatter blueberries evenly into the mix on the pan before it has set.

Gently fry all pancakes for approximately 2-3 minutes per side until bubble form and both sides are golden brown.

]]>Macadamia Mayonnaise and Aiolihttps://leafie.com/eczema/paleo-organic-macadamia-mayonnaise-and-aioli
Sat, 09 Jul 2016 20:31:26 +0000http://leafie.com/?p=1225Macadamia Mayonnaise and Aioli Making your own mayonnaise is a great, its quick to whiz together and know exactly what’s gone into it. Its very satisfying but there is a knack to it and it requires good quality ingredients. Commercial mayos typically contains…

Macadamia Mayonnaise and Aioli

Making your own mayonnaise is a great, its quick to whiz together and know exactly what’s gone into it. Its very satisfying but there is a knack to it and it requires good quality ingredients. Commercial mayos typically contains preservatives, stabilisers and poor quality oils, ‘low fat’ mayonnaise may contain starches, cellulose gel and other ingredients to simulate the texture of real mayonnaise. I love this simple, alternative mayonnaise recipe, free from all of the guck.

Mayonnaise is the creamy base for heaps of recipes, particularly good with Caesar salad.

Macadamia Mayonnaise:

First, start with a cold egg and a room temperature lemon. Always use a light, cold-pressed oil; avocado, walnut or macadamia nut oil, if using olive oil then only use extra light. I discovered that using macadamia nut oil works best for me along with adding some ground nuts, the oil has a light texture and flavour so it adds a pleasant hint of nuttiness, it’s also extremely rich in monounsaturated fats and has a high smoke point, so good for many for cooking uses.

Makes 1 cup

1 large organic free-range egg

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

2 Tablespoons of Organic Apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

1/2 cup light oil (macadamia nut oil, avocado oil or walnut oil)

2-4 tablespoons macadamia nuts

Directions

Mill the macadamia nuts in your processor until fine

Add the egg, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, mustard and macadamia nut flour to your blender and blend for about 10 seconds until well combined.

Remove the cap in the middle of your blender lid and turn the blender on on the lowest setting. Keep the blender running throughout the process. Or use a hand blender in a long glass container.

Begin to very slowly drip your oil into your blender opening. Have the oil ready in a measuring cup or jug that’s easy to pour from, otherwise it will be too hard to get a thin stream of oil and it will pour too fast or make a mess. The mixture will begin to emulsify, thickening to produce a creamy texture.

Keep dripping consistently until the mixture looks like mayonnaise. Don’t necessarily add all of the oil, stop when your mixture looks right and is at the right quantity for you.This whole process takes about 5-6 minutes.
Store: Your mayonnaise will last in your fridge up to 5 days depending on the freshness of your eggs.

Homemade aioli

To make it, all you need to do is use the mayonnaise recipe above but add a clove of crushed garlic at the stage you first blend the egg. You can also use raw cloves for a strong tangy taste, for a mellow rich smoky taste opt for roasted or confit garlic.

Commercial jelly to me is just too sweet, suspiciously brightly coloured with an overpowering sweet smell.

Generally shop bought jelly (jello) is made from gelatine sourced from commercially fed livestock of non-disclosed welfare standards. It’s loaded with sugars or artificial sweeteners, flavouring, colouring and preservatives. Any trace of the original goodness has been stripped away and replaced with synthetic substitutes. Not something I would want my children to eat.

Luckily there is a more wholesome actually good for you alternative, so it’s time to rediscover healthy real gelatine jelly.

Once you have sourced a great quality gelatine product and have perfected your preferred real gelatine jelly recipe than there is no need to save jelly for rare birthday treats, we have jelly for breakfast most days in our house!

Real Gelatine Health Benefits

Gelatine is an important source of dietary collagen and amino acids and moderate source of protein. The health benefits attributed to good quality real gelatine include:

An important source of dietary collagen, which protects and strengthens skin, hair and nails

Gelatine Products

Natural well-sourced gelatine is a healthy animal product made from bones and skins. It is clear, tasteless and odourless. It is used to set and thicken a variety of foods and deserts, including soups, glazes, fillings and custard

Source gelatine from grass fed animals, free range and organic whenever possible. I currently use Great Lakes but I’m always on the look out for new great quality sources.

Gelatine comes in leaf or powder form and is generally prepared by soaking initially in cold water before dissolving and diluting into hot water before cooling to set firm into a jelly like form. Always follow individual product instructions for best results.

Eating daily gelatine daily, mainly through (broths and stocks) is encouraged on a GAPS diet. Unflavoured gelatine is also great in smoothies, deserts, soups and can even be added to your tea. For my real gelatine jelly treats I use natural unsweetened fruit cordial drinks and sweeten with raw honey.

Raspberry Pannacotta Desert

6-8 servings

I love this easy to whip up desert and due to its nutritional content and the gelatine goodness it is one that we can have regularly. Blackberries are in season here in the UK so this is a perfect seasonal touch. Change it around to suit your own tastes using seasonal fruits raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, or cherries.Ingredients
1 tbsp gelatine (Great Lakes is made from grass fed cows)
3 cups (750ml) coconut milk (I use Biona).
1 packed cup (170g) raspberries, plus extra for garnish if desired
1 tsp vanilla extract.
½ cup filtered water
1/4 cup raw honey, local

Directions

Put 1/2 cup of filtered water into a pan, sprinkle over the gelatine and set aside for 5 minutes or so, till softened and spongy.

Meanwhile, put the coconut milk together with the raspberries in a high speed blender and whizz till thoroughly combined.

Heat the gelatine very gently. Don’t let it get too hot or allow it to boil as it will affect the taste and smell.

Remove from the heat, stir in the honey and whisk the mixture into the coconut/raspberry mixture, along with the vanilla extract.

Were waking up to the importance of the trillions of tiny microflora living in our bodies. These good bacteria, particularly those in our gut, play a vital role in maintaining our health, aiding digestion, supporting our immune system responses and may even help to control our weight.

Chia seeds soaked in kombucha tea

The most effective way to encourage their growth is by eating natural fermented foods that are populated with diverse beneficial bacteria for a healthy dose of daily probiotics. These delicious happy tummy Fermented Kombucha Bliss Balls contain fermented kombucha tea and are raw to maximise the probiotic benefits.

They are also packed full with other super healthy ingredients, including chia seeds, macadamia nuts, sunflower seeds, cacao powder, coconut oil, so make for a fantastic healthy happy treat for your family.

This is just the best! A healthy, delicious, easy to make and anti-inflammatory bakeless cake bursting with beneficial ingredients!

Pumpkin is packed full of vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and fibre, it is a surprising superfood that should be consumed happily and often. The nutrients found in pumpkin prevent and alleviate many conditions, such as inflammation, eczema, skin problems, cancer, kidney stones, depression and parasitic infections.

Eating seasonally is an important part of managing diet and living sustainably, so since autumn is the traditional time for pumpkin now is the time to indulge in this bright, health-enhancing benefits, versatile vegetable.

Preparation – the base1. Place the macadamia, almond, pumpkin seeds in a food processor or blender and blend until it forms a chunky mix then place in a large mixing bowl.
2. Gently warm the coconut oil in hot water until liquid, then pour into your mix.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well until you form a chunky mix, not quite a dough. If the mixture is too sticky then add more ground almonds by the tablespoon until you are happy with the consistency.
4. Line a 12” cake tin or tart mould with removable bottom with clingfilm, as this is a fridge cake the shape and size of the tin can vary depending on how deep you prefer your base, you can also use tupperware to form different shapes but be very careful when removing.
5. Spoon your mixture into your lined tin and spread so that it is evenly distributed. Cover in a layer of clingfilm then press firmly. It helps to have another cake tin or heavy book to press down with. Refridgerate your cake whilst you prepare your topping.

Preparation – the topping1. Place the pre-soaked and drained cashews in a blender and blend until smooth.
2. Add the pumpkin puree, spices and honey and blend together.
3. Gently heat the coconut oil in hot warter until liquid, then add to the blender and blend until a smooth paste.5. Spoon your paste mix onto the refridgerated base, smooth the surface with a desert knife and leave to set for 2 hours.

]]>Chicken, Cashew and Pumpkin Curry Recipehttps://leafie.com/eczema-diet/chicken-cashew-and-pumpkin-curry-recipe
Fri, 17 Oct 2014 08:29:37 +0000http://leafie.com/?p=1661Chicken, Cashew and Pumpkin Curry Recipe A perfect winter warmer and in time for National Curry Week. This is an easy curry recipe and has a twist with the addition of seasonal pumpkin, which provides extra creamy depth. Ingredients 6 boneless…